


yellow tulips

by MidnightBlueMoon



Series: December 2018 [9]
Category: The Night Shift (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Double Drabble, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 13:58:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16955373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightBlueMoon/pseuds/MidnightBlueMoon
Summary: Even with the man not in his life, Michael is coughing up petals for him. It's so stupid.





	yellow tulips

**Author's Note:**

> Day 9.
> 
> For anyone who is interested: "The meaning of yellow tulips has evolved somewhat, from once representing hopeless love to now being a common expression for cheerful thoughts and sunshine." It's pretty obvious with which interpretation I'm working here.
> 
>  _Hanahaki Disease_ is a fictional disease. If a person falls in love with someone who does not reciprocate the feelings, flowers grow inside the person's lungs. The disease is deadly, if the love is not reciprocated or if the flowers are removed. In most works, the removal of the flowers leads to a loss of the love for the person as well, which is why most people do not undergo the surgery.

It’s stupid and Michael hates himself for it. But those thoughts don’t stop him from coughing up petals.

The sink is filled with small petals, their color a bright yellow against the white sink. Michael knows he needs to get rid of them as fast as possible, but he can’t. Not yet. So he turns on the tab and carefully picks up one. The water runs across the petal and his hands, and Michael’s fears turn out to be true. It’s a yellow tulip. It’s the worst flower he could think of - he wishes for another color, and he knows he’ll never have it.

So he just drops the petal into the sink, letting it wash away. He cleans his hands, his face, his mouth.

Even after he leaves, he still tastes the bitterness of the petals, and he promptly gets in a fight with TC. He doesn’t apologize. TC doesn’t need his apology – because Michael knows he is a _good_ person, and he can’t let him into his life. So he keeps him at arm‘s length, to protect himself. Anything else would be his destruction. Even with TC not in his life, he’s coughing up stupid petals for him.


End file.
